El Tovar Dining Room

El Tovar Dining Room Review

No doubt about it—this is the best restaurant for miles. Modeled after a European hunting lodge, this rustic 19th-century dining room built of hand-hewn logs is worth a visit. The cuisine is modern Southwestern with an exotic flair. Start with the smoked salmon-and-goat cheese crostini or the acclaimed black bean soup. The dinner menu includes such hearty yet creative dishes as cherry-merlot-glazed duck with roasted poblano black bean rice, grilled New York strip steak with cornmeal-battered onion rings, and a wild salmon tostada topped with organic greens and tequila vinaigrette. The dining room also has an extensive wine list. Dinner reservations can be made up to six months in advance with room reservations and 30 days in advance for all other visitors. If you can't get a dinner table, consider lunch or breakfast—the best in the region with dishes like polenta corncakes with prickly pear-pistachio butter, and blackened breakfast trout and eggs.